a cats tail
by kcctaiga
Summary: justice is a funny concept, it'll drive a man to perform the noblest deeds s well as the worst atrocities, justice is a blade that draws blood from the innocent and wicked alike, and raised high it can lead a charge that will change the world forever. AU idea from an anonymous review on my Danny Phantom fanfic, broken and bloodstained
1. lost little kitten

It all started with an accident, an accident they called it. I know English isn't my first language but I know that what happened was no accident, it was murder. Both of my parents were killed as the ropes on the trapeze snapped in the middle of their performance, a few moments later and I would have been on as well, but I wasn't so instead I got to watch my parents fall to the floor in a mangled heap of flesh that used to be two people.

The police said nothing could be proved so the man who had murdered my parents would never see justice. He told me that they knew who did it but had no evidence to which his partner replied "its not what we know its what they can prove"

The man who had first spoken to me, detective Gordon, looked at his partner and said "rookie, go wait in the car"

"What'd I do boss the man tried to argue,

Detective Gordon just looked at the man and said "car, now" a dangerous tone in his voice, I may be young but I had no questions about the fact that detective Gordon was threatening his partner.

Suddenly an younger man in an expensive suit comes up and talks to detective Gordon, I take this as my cue to leave, I hear them talking about orphanages and even juvenile detention centers. No matter what I can't let that happen I have to get out of here so I ran.

I ran and ran as fast as I could, and soon enough I found, myself in Gotham city, it was a dark and miserable city, polluted with crime and smog. I walked down an alley and behind me a man stirred, I soon felt a hand on my shoulder, I turned to see who it was. The man who had been behind me in the ally had now come to his feet, he looked at me with a crazed look in his eye and pulled out a knife. at that moment I knew that I was going to die.

I had never been so happy to be proven wrong. It was at that moment that I met my guardian angel, or more like guardian cat. As the man pulled back with the knife preparing to lunge at me, I braced myself, knowing that this was the end. As I said my last prayer and closed my eyes accepting the inevitable when I heard a dull thud followed by a large crack and then he hear a muffled groan.

After a moment of expecting the pain and it never coming I opened my eyes, what I saw next was not anything like I thought it would be. She was beautiful, she was graceful, clad in a skintight leather suit, and atop her head she wore a pair of goggles with red lenses that had cat ears. On her hip she had w long black leather whip that I later found out she had used on the man to save me.

She looked at me and said "hey kid, your parents never teach you not to go out alone at night in gotham?" I was speechless, still In shock from the events that had unfolded she walks over and crouches down to my level and ruffles my hair saying "whats the matter cat got our tongue". After a moment of silence the smile drops off of her face as she lets out a sigh "seriously kid, this is no place to hang out at night, why don't you show me where you live, im sure your parents are worried sick"

With cold distain I reply "I highly doubt that"

She smiled again and said "so you can speak afterall" I looked down avoiding her eyes "what's wrong kid" she asks cocking her head to the side. I just stood there shaking, I promised myself I wouldn't cry, but my body was doing its best to not let me keep that problem. She puts her hands on my cheeks and lifts my face to look at her "how about we start with your name kitten"

"Richard mam" I say trying to look anywhere but in her eyes

She smiles at me brightly saying "mam? Where did someone in crime ally learn manners, quite the refreshing change of pace. Well Richard my name is salina, salina kyle, tell me Richard whats your last name"

"Grayson mam, Richard grayson" she raised an eyebrow at me.

Well Richard grayson, since you don't seem to want to go home, how would like to spend the night at my house.

"really" I ask, I could feel my eyes widen and my mouth fall open, she nods giving me a small smile "thank you so much miss salina"

No problem kitten she says as she scooped me up in her arms and we took off into the night.


	2. meeting a bat

Selina arrived at her apartment, the boy she had been carrying had fallen asleep as she had traversed the Gotham skyline, she was quite surprised by the fact that a boy his age could be so unbothered by the heights and the sensation of falling. But he was no normal boy, that much Selina knew right away, she didn't know what about the boy had piqued her interest but something, he had a slight saunter to his stride that she could pick out of a crowd, was that it? She didn't think so, she wouldn't have just picked him up for being something out of the Monty Python ministry of funny walks. His eyes? They were bright and beautiful a shade of blue that held such vibrancy that it was very distinguishable, but she was not one to fall for someone batting their eyelashes, no she was too smart for that, wasn't she?

Then it struck her, Grayson, she had heard that name before, but where? That name had been in the news lately a few times, they had mentioned something about their son, but what? This was so frustrating she knew that name, but where?

Selina walked over to her laptop, opening the screen she typed in the password as the computer screen came to life, she pulled her internet browser and typed google into the address bar, but before she hit enter she stopped, it was right there on the front of her homepage. "Young couple falls to their deaths, nine year old son still missing" the headline read. How had she missed that, with all the time she had put into research, how had she missed what was on the front page of yahoo.

She looked at the boy his sleeping form looked so peaceful, she pitied the boy, he was so young but he had been through so much, Selina would have loved to just watch the small boy just sleep for the next few hours, but she had to sleep herself, she would talk to the boy in the morning. With that thought she began to head towards her room for a shower and then straight to bed.

The next morning Selina awoke with renewed vigor, during the night she had a dream, in the dream she was running from batman, being chased along the Gotham rooftops and just as the big bad bat had her cornered, he was tackled to the ground. On top of him was a young man in a suit similar to her yet more masculine, he was a striking young man with a powerful figure, the woman took off into the night confident that the young man was more than a match for the bat, their skills on par with the bat sporting experience and the boy in turn was using agility to his advantage.

Four years later

Selina strode along the rooftops of the Gotham city museum as Richard, or ocelot as he now called himself, watched from a distance. This was to be his first hands on job, he had supported her jobs before but from the comfort of their apartment, the boy had an affinity for computer that boggled her mind, at the age of eleven he had hacked into the pentagon and played a joke on them, he set all of the building's monitors to play a twenty three hour loop of a video he found on the internet that he had dubbed as the "nyan cat video", she could only feel sorry for his victims after listening to the video's dong for more than three seconds. But tonight he was in the field, watching her work, taking notes and most of all watching for the big bad batman, she had managed to avoid him for the past several months straight with Richard's help, he was nothing if not helpful, whether cleaning the dishes or cleaning out a bank vault, his help was indispensable.

The boy was highly intelligent, wise beyond his years, a master tactician, fluent in fourteen different languages, and had a set of ninja skill that mad batman's disappearing act seem like a card trick. So yes the boy was useful but beyond that over the last four years he had become her apprentice yes but even more he had become her son. She loved the boy and as much as she had romantic feelings for bruce he would never even come close to the love between a mother and her child.

Selina dreaded the first time that bruce and Richard would fight, she had confidence in Richard's abilities but this was the batman she was talking about, very few were a match for him but if anyone was it was Richard, he had bruce's intelligence and her agility.

As selina approached the skylight she heard Richard come over the radio "ocelot to catwoman"

What's up kitten, she asked in return

Two thing he replied one don't call me kitten you know how much I hate that two tall dark and brooding inbound eta twelve minuets he's currently apprehending the penguin ad twenty fourth and Lincoln avenue. Judging by his fight and the radio banter coming across police bandwith you need to move fast."

Once again she was baffled by his intelligence, she wanted to know how he got his estimation but she by this time she realized that it was better not to question his calculations and instead decided to expedite her timeline.

She pressed her left hand against the skylight and turned it using her glass cutting claws to remove the glass from the skylight before descending using her whip as a rope to repel down. She knocked the guards unconscious and moving towards her quarry she heard her radio spark to life in her ear again. "Ocelot to catwoman"

Catwoman she replies

"You took too long, bat is inbound, roughly 45 seconds till you should have visual on him" she hears over the radio. As if on cue exactly 45 on the nose later the bat made his appearance through the hole in the skylight.


	3. Agamemnon protocol

As batman glided down to the floor using his cape to slow his decent, he landed silently and gave catwoman what was commonly referred to by those acquainted with him as the bat glare. Catwoman was used to this, she received it every time that they had met. Catwoman called across the radio "catwoman to ocelot"

"I'm already in route" she heard come across the radio. Selina loved that her son knew her so well.

"Thank you sweetie" she said

"Mom, can you stop calling me little kid names, please?" he begged over the radio she smirked

"no matter how old you get you'll always be mommas little boy" she whispered as the batman was slowly closing the distance.

"Jesus mom" he sighed into her headset

He had been eager to confront the batman, he knew he shouldn't be but he wanted to truly test his mettle. Within seconds a smoke grenade dropped from the ceiling.

As the smoked filled the space between the bat and the cat, the batman lunged toward catwoman attempting to seize her to stop her from fleeing, only to be knocked backwards by a boy in a black suit much like his.

Ocelot's veins felt like an electric charge was coursing through his veins with anticipation, this was the first time that he had seen the batman in person, he had observed him via cameras and the complicated observation network that spanned the entirety of Gotham city. He was about what ocelot guessed was six foot two maybe a hundred and eighty pounds but this number would be obviously skewed due to the excess gear and armor he was wearing.

Honestly he looked like something out of a Greek myth. His appearance was something akin to what ocelot imagined was what the Greeks thought hades looked like, he was straight out a mural. Large imposing figure shrouded in darkness, a dark flowing black cape, and the cowl, the ears looked like horns and the vibrant eyes glowed in the eerie semi-lit room.

The statuesque hellion looked upon the boy awestruck, his figure was small not more than four and a half feet tall, and he couldn't have weighed more than one hundred pounds soaking wet. Despite his small stature his body was powerful and he was disciplined, most common thugs would scream in terror at the mere shadow of the batman and this boy had volentarily thrown himself between the bat and the cat, the young boy looks to catwoman and says, "get what we came for, ill deal with the batman" before turning his back on the rand eyes on the bat ready to fight.

Batman had to admit that his form was nearly flawless, arms raised tucked in tight to avoid being grabbed and tense without being rigid. Weight rolled on to the balls of his feet ready to pounce, give chase or if need be doge and counter. His knees were slightly bent also ready to move at any second. Catwoman says "you sure, I can stay if you want"

I got this he says not taking his eyes off of the bat, I'll meet up later

Alright kitten, if you need me I'll be just a call away she says

Don't worry about me he says tightening his stance even more

As Selina begins to move for the door on the side of the room batman gives chase only to be cut off, almost literally, by a silver flash in front of his face. Ducking backwards he saw the boy from before still twirling midair with a silver blur circling around him, as the boy lands he crouches inn his hand he clasps a sword with a short curved blade, similar to a katana. Batman knew those type of blades, tanto knives, Japanese assassination weapons developed in the samurai era by ninja to combat the shogunate military.

The boy just glared at the man, "you should put that away before you hurt yourself" batman mocked the boy.

Ocelot just continued to glare at the man, inside he was trembling in both fear and anticipation but on the outside he calm, he avoided unnecessary movement and words so as to not let his body betray his mind, afraid that his voice would give his adversary an advantage. He reaches behind his back and grabbed a handful of shuriken, as he did the bat tensed his body.

The tension in the air was palpable as if they were waiting for a bomb to go off, each second felt like an eternity. Then when he couldn't take it this anymore ocelot snapped, he let loose a barrage of shuriken, the dark knight in turn threw a flurry of batarangs to meet them. One of his shuriken grazed the boys abdomen then and another embedded itself in his shoulder. After injuring the boy batman rushed in to deliver a strike, ocelots body reacted instinctively throwing himself high into the air before landing in the rafters deftly and diving behind an iron girder. Batman pursued the boy into the I-beams, landing he checked the area, he found no trace of the boy until he heard a series of small metallic clinks on the ground behind him.

Turning on his sonar vision, he quirked an eyebrow, the boy was clever he had taken the fight back to the ground, he was going to have to fight the boy on his terms. He was intelligent enough to manipulate his surrounding and force his enemy to go where he wanted, he had dropped caltrops of all things small metal spikes.

He was agile where had the boy learned to be fast and subtle enough to gain the upper hand on the world's greatest detective at his own game and cover his movements and he could hide from even the most sophisticated equipment in the world.

The batman heard a slight whistling sound, turning to his right he raised his gauntlet and heard several sharp tinks as shuriken bounced off of the Kevlar. He was surprised at the boy's resourcefulness, perhaps he shouldn't have been as he was trained by Gotham's greatest thief, catwoman, but he was even more puzzling than the woman herself, she avoided him like a plague while he openly challenged him.

He was aggressive but not insane, he was highly intelligent but still morally skewed and his tactics showed ruthlessness not seen in thieves, psychopaths drew him out with brutal mass chaos while he was cold and calculating. "Hey kid" batman says

"The names ocelot" he snaps back, ocelot huh? Another cat but not a domesticated one, one that was wild and predatory, aggressive and territorial, capable of hunting solitarily or organizing packs to hunt, the animal is powerful and versatile.

Impressed as he was with ocelot's performance, the boy was still on the wrong path and he had to be stopped "well ocelot, how do you think this is going to turn out?, if this is the best you've got I'm under whelmed" batman smirked at the boy.

"Catwoman was overwhelmed, you're underwhelmed, isn't anyone ever just whelmed" the boy quipped back "Well, I must say that I for one am simply whelmed, neither over or under"

Batman was not amused by the boy's carefree antics and seeing him relax slightly as the two bantered, narcissism he noted, a weakness to be exploited, keep him talking, get him to open up. "Really clever aren't you"

"Better than you old man" ocelot boasts proudly crossing his arms over his chest.

"You think so?" batman asked.

"I know so" he says defensively.

Batman knows the boy is about to start closing up, going back to his silent self, it was now or never batman fired his grappling gun at the rafters above ocelot, propelling himself up and over the rafter before diving down at the boy. Ocelot rolled backwards before being punched backwards onto the caltrops he had dropped earlier.

The boy groaned as he landed "so not whelming" he said as he tried to pull himself up to look at the batman.

"Not half bad for an old man" smirked the batman.


	4. ruthlessness

Ocelot was in pain, he needed a way out and now, he had lost quite a bit of blood and it was catching up to him. Looking around at his surroundings what to do, with no options left he pulled out his last resort. Batman soon found himself looking down the barrel of a forty five. Batman knew his armor would protect him but he had to know, know if the kid was truly a killer, would he pull the trigger. The bat began walking forward, ocelot yelled, "Stop, back up"

Batman continued to march forward, the boy began to scramble backwards until his hand found another caltrop, he winced in pain and fell on his left side then he did something that made batman stop dead in his track. Batman was immune to the damage the pistol could do but the gun was no longer pointed at him, the gun was aimed directly at the two security guards that catwoman had tied up earlier. Batman remained frozen for a minute, his worst fear had been confirmed with two words "I'll do it" he said firmly, batman couldn't take the chance. His voice was firm and confident.

Batman looked straight through his masked eyes, ocelot had regained his calm demeanor his voice never wavered and his hand was steady. After a moment ocelot broke the silence "drop the gun, you have five seconds to comply or I WILL fire" batman unclipped his belt and threw it to the ground, this boy wasn't afraid.

Batman had no doubt that the boy would fire and kill the hostages. "Put the gun down, we can talk this out"

"NO" he shouted "SHUT UP, you managed to distract me, it won't happen again" he had taken control of the situation and he wouldn't relinquish it again.

Fortune smiled on the unlucky guards today however as ocelot heard "hey kitten how you doing out there"

"Everything is under control" he said firmly

"Alright I'm done here, as soon as you can get out of here" catwoman said in her ear

"You're lucky day bat, I gotta go but just so you don't follow" he says pulling out a grenade with an insane smirk. "Play catch" he says tossing it at the guards.

A horrified batman rushes after it as ocelot takes off in the other direction, batman throws his fireproof cape around the guards and waits, after a second he hears a small pop, he looks over his caped shoulder, he sees the shell of the grenade with smoke coming out the bottom, not a lot but it was there,

Cautiously he walked over and picked it up "hollowed out" he says inspecting it "cheeky bastard" he says smirking at the boy's cleverness, the boy himself was nowhere to be seen, batman looked for something, anything but no the boy was a ghost, he was untraceable.

Ocelot watched from a safe distance as batman exited the roof of the building before disappearing into the night. Having ditched the bat ocelot decided now would be a good time to return home, he had school tomorrow and if he fell asleep in class Selina might not let him go out again.

As he made his way across the rooftops he heard nearly silent footstep behind him. Ocelot immediately froze and pulled his gun on whatever unlucky soul had decided to tail him that night. "come out" he yell "I can see you". His bluff worked as a man stepped out of the shadows it was not however the bat.

The man was clad and black and orange armor with steel plates protruding from it. "who are you" ocelot barked at the man.

"Someone who is very interested in you" the man said.

"name, now" ocelot growled not in the mood for games.

"I am Mr. Wilson, and I have been keep an eye on you young man" the man said

"You see" Mr. Wilson said in a calm voice "I'm an old acquaintance of catwoman, once I heard that her performance had been altered, I became intruiged" the man explained "she is very skilled make no mistake about that but she is not a tactician. Her latest crimes showed a level of preparation and precision that she simply isn't capable of"

"Watch what you say about my mom asshole, I'm still holding a gun" ocelot growled at the man, something about him just made ocelot uncomfortable and on edge. His aura seeped bloodlust and he was armed to the teeth.

Wilson laughed throatily at that "that's good, a well delivered threat delivered from a position of power"

"nobody insults my family" ocelot replies.

"loyalty an admirable quality and you paired it so well with a threat that reeked of ruthlessness and cold calculation" Wilson replies he was quite impressed with the boy he had exceeded all expectation "but you mistake me boy, that comment had nothing to do with your mother, it was not an insult but a compliment. Few people in the world are that good so tell me the truth boy did you plan those jobs for her?"

"what if I did" the boy scoffed "what're you gonna do about it"

"I thought as much" Wilson chuckled, the boy was perfect for his plans "well you see, my name is Slade Wilson, around the world I am more famously known as Deathstroke. I am widely regarded as the world's greatest assassin and trust me, you my boy have a natural talent that would be squandered on such pursuits as petty theft." Deathstroke take a deep sigh before continuing "In truth I came here today because I wished to extend to you an offer, become my apprentice if you do so you will reach a level of greatness, fame and wealth that is inconceivable to the average person"

"Not interested" the boy says harshly

Deathstroke lets out a deep sigh before replying "very well, but if you change your mind the offer still stands"

"I'll bear that in mind" ocelot says beginning to back away from the man.

Deathstroke turn and begins to walk away and shouts over his shoulder "a wise decision, never burn bridges that you may need to cross in the future, and who knows what the future holds" and with that Deathstroke is gone. Ocelot is left on the roof alone to think about what just happened. He is broken out of his thoughts by another thought, he still had school in the morning Selina would kill him if he didn't get home right now.


	5. deep in thought

Selina waited in the living room of her apartment, Richard was taking too long and she didn't like it she was worried about her little kitten not just physically but emotionally. She was about to go and find him when she heard a small clack in the kitchen. She stood and walked to the kitchen and watched with crossed arms as the boy crawled through the window and onto the tile floor. She was about to start yelling at him for being so late when she noticed the blood, his blood and lots of it. She rushed over to him "kitten are you alright" she asked as she started wiping the blood away from his face.

His breathing was ragged and Selina could tell he was in a lot of pain but he still put on a smile "I'm alright mom, just a scratch" he said as she continued trying to clean him up

"You're a brave little soldier, aren't you" she cooed as he kept squirming under the cloth she was using.

"mom" he whined "I can do it myself, it's just a few cuts" as she kept trying to get him to hold still.

"I know you can" she replied "doesn't mean I don't want to help, that's what family does" she said not letting up with the cloth

"I know but right now I really just want to take a shower okay" he replied trying to get out of the conversation.

Selina stood and looked at the boy for a moment to size him up. He had grown so big in the last few years no longer was he the little boy who cried when tripped and skinned knee. He was still young but he was becoming a man in his own right, he had fought the batman by himself a true test of mettle if there ever was one.

She put the towel on the counter "alright" she conceded "but don't think this means you can miss school in the morning and I'm going to take a look at you first thing before you leave to make sure you don't look to bad" she said with a stern finger before patting him on the shoulder and turning to leave.

Richard made his way to the shower stripping off parts of his suit as he did so and turned on the water. As he allowed the hot water to stream over him his mind was brought to the cuts covering his body, it stung as the warm water washed over him and mixed with his blood before disappearing down the drain.

After about fifteen minutes the blood had stopped for the most part and he turned off the water to begin patching himself up. As he sat on the side of the tub putting stitches in himself he thought back on the events of the night, batman had played him but in the end the dark knight was not willing to go far enough to win and Richard was he would have to be careful to avoid letting himself be taken advantage of next time the two met.

What plagued him even more was this man, Slade Wilson. What was with that guy, he came out of nowhere asked him to be his apprentice and left just the same way he came. The guy didn't make sense at all he would need to keep an eye out for him, maybe Selina would know something of this man. He would ask her later he decided for now he was tired.

Replacing the first aid under the counter he pulled on a pair of pants and began to walk to bed, Selina called out to him when she heard the door open "night kitten" she yelled from the living room.

"Night mom" he yelled back to her and went into his room. On his bed curled up into a ball was his cat, Salem the cat stretched as he entered the room. As he laid down Salem crawled up and laid up on his chest. He picked the cat up holding it above his head "hey buddy" he said to the cat "don't supposed you have the answers do you bud"

The cat just looked down at him and yawned "didn't think so Richard sighed putting the cat down and rolling over to go to sleep.


	6. late nights and coping methods

Selina sat up all night that night drinking, she couldn't sleep. She was suddenly questioning bringing a young boy into the dangerous world filled with psychopaths, he could be injured captured or killed any day of the week. It was just a part of the job, she had initially rejected when he said he wanted to go with on the grounds that he was only thirteen but when he batted those amazing cerulean at her she just couldn't say no.

True she realized that he was growing up and nothing she could would stop that but that didn't stop her from worrying about her kitten. She would always be his mother and wanted him to be happy but she also wanted him to be safe.

Selina took another sip of her wine as these thoughts began to overwhelm her, he was he baby boy but he was also a growing boy. He wanted adventure she knew it was normal but that didn't make it any easier. To her he would always be the little boy who had a cold and a new pet that he was begging her to let him keep that she would, damn his cuteness and those big blue eyes with long eyelashes that seemed to cut right through her hardened exterior.

Another sip. One of her many cats came up and curled up on the couch next to her. She was heartbroken that her little kitten had been hurt but she was equally pissed, the next time that she got her hands on the bat he would get a face full of claws. She was tempted to go and find the bat right now and tear him to shreds but as she stood up she immediately fell back down. That, she decided, was a project for tomorrow.

This night there was another individual who shared Selina's insomnia. Batman sat at his computer replaying the security tapes from the museum. Even with the advantage of a third perspective he still could not trace the movements of the boy but he did pick up on a number of other things. First off the boy was fast, yes he already knew this but the amount of distance he covered without being seen in the short gaps that he disappeared meant that in an outright chase the bat would never catch the boy.

So chasing was out the window, also the boy had not found the gun the bat noticed that it was on him from the beginning. How had he not noticed that earlier, that mistake could have and almost did cost lives. The lives of the guards or anyone unlucky enough to be caught in the crossfire. Despite having the gun the entire time the boy did not rely on it. This piqued the batman's interest most thugs were very keen to bring out any gun that they had immediately if not soon after but the boy had shown restraint.

Just who was this mysterious masked boy and what connection did he have to catwoman. She had always been a handful but with her new partner at her side she would be even more so. Could he have had something to do with the fact that despite numerous robberies that had catwoman written all over them he had found no evidence. It was as if someone had been covering her tracks and now he knew why.

Another thing he noticed was that the boy had entered from behind him, it would not have been surprising if the boy had attacked him from behind. The longer he watched the tapes the more he realized that the boy had him dead to rights. If he had wanted he could have pounced on him from behind and the fight would have gone much differently. The boy had surrendered his advantage before the fight even began, he had not used the knife that he had first appeared holding except to buy catwoman time to escape.

Furthermore the more he watched and re-watched the tapes the more convinced he was that the swing had been wild and instinctive as opposed to aggressive. He had been defending his partner, nothing more. Had he wished to kill batman he had more than one opportunity to do so without even being noticed. Still the boy had threatened the lives of innocents and that made him a threat to the people of Gotham and he needed to be stopped before someone ended up dead.

Batman was suddenly having reservations about sending his new protégé into the fray against villains. He had trained Barbra and was comfortable with her presence in combat but he didn't know if he could bring himself to put her in harm's way.

He owed Gordon that much, he was always a good man always trusted people but in the end it proved to be the end of him. He was killed by one of the people he most trusted, betrayed and left to rot. Batman had found him but it was too late and on his dying breath he asked batman to take care of his daughter.

The girl's parents had been murdered so Bruce couldn't let her go through that pain alone. No he had been through that pain and would not wish it on his worst enemies so Bruce Wayne had adopted Barbra Gordon-Wayne 6 months ago. Barbra was smart and it didn't take her long to realize that her surrogate father had secrets, big ones. Soon enough she had found out the truth and was begging him to take her with him.

Initially he said no outright. Soon enough she was spending her days down in the cave and talking about cases with him. But Bruce knew that he would not be able to keep her off of the streets anymore, the joker had escaped three days ago after killing her father. He couldn't and wouldn't stop her so instead he opted for option c he wanted her by his side the whole way, making sure that she saw justice done without going too far.

He remembered when he found the man that murdered his parents. He had come so close to crossing that line but at the last second he stopped. If he had been younger and more vengeful, if the pain had been fresher. Well let's just say if he had the batman would be an outlaw not a hero..


	7. kittens and baby bats

Four weeks later

Well this was great Barbra had been captured… again this was the twelfth time this month the first time being her very first day on the job. She was tied to a post with a madman standing over her with a butterfly knife, a pasty clown with an insane smile and demeanor to match it. Great just great this was not a promising start to a budding superhero career.

As the joker went into his standard rant of inexplicably elaborating on his plan for what he was going to do Barbra tuned him out. This routine was getting old she was tired of getting rescued by bruce. Speak of the devil she noticed the shadows moving above the joker and sighed, this day was turning out to be a disaster.

As she wondered how batman would save her this time she heard something definitely not batman, a laugh. No to call it a laugh would be incorrect, this was a snide cackle filled with arrogance and mischief. The joker stopped mid rant to look at the source of the sound "whose there" he barked.

"no one here but us cats" the voice cackled back at him.

The joker was infuriated, "no one get the last laugh on me, do you know I am?" the joker bellowed in rage.

"no" the cackle casually replied "do you know who you are" it asked snidely.

"I'm the joker" the clown shouted at the rafters

"that's not a name" the voice quipped back "how about Larry?"

"Larry?" the joker said confused "no I'm the joker"

"Once again not a name" the snide cackle laughed "so Larry, what-cha doing"

"my name is not Larry" the joker screamed

"fine, fine" the voice said. The joker visibly relaxed at his concession. This moment of relaxation was short lived as the voice laughed "how about bob?"

"what's wrong with you" the joker screamed at the voice "it's joker, joker, jo-ker" he said annunciating the syllables.

"I thought someone with the name joker would you know, tell more jokes" the cackle returned

"come down here you little rat, ill show you jokes" he screamed in rage

"I can see fine from right here" it said in a bored tone

The joker lost it and started firing indiscriminately into the rafters with the voice cackling all the while. The cackle was maddening, sounding as though it was coming from all directions at once at several different volumes and pitches that overlapped to create an orchestra of insanity. The joker ranted about just what he was going to do to the voice when he caught it until suddenly he stopped his ranting and began screaming. This was not one of the jokers normal screams of rage but one filled with fear and pain. Barbra looked at him to see a very long knife sticking out of his arm.

She thought she was going to be sick the knife had penetrated from one side of his arm through and out the other side leaving it buried to the hilt sticking out of him as he bled like a stuck pig.

The joker frantically moved behind the closest solid object to him and hid. After a few second he peeked over the top to look around sticking his barrel over first. As he did he heard a sharp tinking noise behind him turning he saw another knife embedded behind him in the floor "could have had you any time I wanted clown" the voice mocked.

The joker became frantic firing randomly into the rafters before finally running out of ammunition as his gun made a frantic clicking sound before falling to the floor with a howling clown left with another knife sticking out of his hand.

That was it Barbra, lost it and threw up all over her shoes. Great, just fucking b-e-a-utiful first month on the job and she already couldn't hack it. Once again not a promising start to a budding superhero career.

Barbra looked over to the howling lump of flesh that used to be a man. Holy shit, how did one person even bleed that much, she didn't think the human body had that much blood.

As the clown rolled into his own demented little world Barbra saw a shadow slither down one of the I-beams that she was tied to and towards the joker, it moved like an animal the muscles on its lithe back rippling in waves as it sauntered over its downed quarry. The longer she watched the more she realized that this thing was a boy, but how no mere boy could beat the joker, no mere boy was this precise, this ruthless, this cold.

Barbra turned her head away from the shadow after having gotten chills from just watching it move. Barbra refused to look back until she heard the sound of grinding metal, when she did look she saw the bow had drawn another knife and was poised to kill.

Barbra audibly gasped "hey" she called out

The boy let out a long drawn out "yessss" while slinking over to her.

"I think ya got him" she glared at the boy.

Seeing what she was getting at the boy replies with a smirk "not yet, but I will" before heading back towards the joker.

"HEY" she yells again the boy just looks over his shoulder at her.

Before this could go any farther ocelot vanished into thin air leaving one very puzzled batgirl still tied to a post. Not three seconds after ocelot had gone one VERRY pissed batman came crashing through the skylight howling about the joker before stopping dead in his tracks.

The sight that greeted the more than slightly angry dark knight was that of a bloody lump of flesh on the floor laughing like the madman that it once resembled and his apprentice tied to a support girder. Batman rubbed the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger as he saw the wall, when had that happened he thought to himself as he looked a crudely done spray paint tagging of a very large cat. When he got his hands on that boy he was in deep trouble, his apprentice on the other hand was in trouble now, he thought as he cut her free.

She remained silent as he did so before saying "retraining" as though it was a statement not a question

"Retraining" batman replied sternly them both understanding the implications.

She hangs her head and sighs "thought so she says".

"go wait in the car" says batman before turning and looking at the mangled body of a derange madman. Barbra does as she's told and walks outside to the batmobile. After she has left the room batman says "you can come out, I see you"

Ocelot slinks back from the shadows into which he made his earlier escape. "you're good"

"so are you" says batman "unfortunately your methods leave something to be desired" he says motioning to the body next to them.

"he'll live" he scoffs "if only just" he adds under his breath". With a sigh he turns to the batman and says "oh come on, like you've never thought about it" his tone getting louder and harsher all the while "imagine how many people I just saved by crippling this guy, how many innocent people can rest easy at night because the joker will never have another maniacal scheme to draw you out"

"I know what you're going through" bruce says softly "believe me there isn't a day that goes by that I don't think about ending his miserable little existence, to get back at him for all the things he's done, all the people he's killed and the lives he's broken" he looks over to the batmobile that now contains a sleeping Barbra "like hers" he says "do you know what he's done to her alone?"

"yes actually" ocelot interjects, as batman's hands tense at the notion of being betrayed by saline he continues "It wasn't hard to figure out who you are, especially after a certain tragedy left a certain billionaire with the child of a certain police commissioner and then an unnamed vigilante shows up with a new sidekick" he says. Then as he notices the gears start turning in bruces head " you know who I am don't you?" he asks the dark night

"yes" he replies shortly

"meet me here in in an hour" he says "go drop off Gordon, and don't tell her who I am"

"And why not" the batman smirks

"because if you do I send the six o'clock news the ten digit location of the batcave" he deadpanned earning a glare from bruce.

"Fine but give me a reason why not" bruce says.

Ocelot rolls his eyes and says "um maybe because she goes to my school" mocking him and rapping the side of his head with his knuckles.


	8. trust is earned not given

One hour later found Bruce sitting on a rooftop next to Richard. Bruce remained the batman in full persona while Richard had abandoned his mask to the surface beside him letting the cold night air gently caress his face and allowing his hair to drift within it "so what now" he asked waiting for Bruce to respond.

"You almost went too far" Bruce says flatly "you could have killed him"

"Almost being the operative word" Richard replies "besides no one would have missed that freak. Plus aren't you forgetting that he almost killed Gordon"

"Regardless of who it is you can't just go around killing anyone you please" Bruce growls

Richard rolls onto his back and kicks his feet back then flips onto his heels, standing in one swift motion. "it was just the clown" he says angrily pacing back and forth on the roof "it's not like I'm talking about riddler or the penguin not even dents burnt ass, just him why not?" He says swing his arms over his head and leaning on a wall with his hands behind his head.

Batman looks at the boy for a moment before sighing "tell me, say that you kill him would that really solve anything?" getting up to stand in front of him to look him in the eyes

The boy walks past him and says frustrated "I don't know, maybe? It sure wouldn't hurt the situation?"

"Do you really believe that?" Bruce asks him.

Richard looks over his shoulder at him "ya know? You've been asking all the questions so far" he says glaring at Bruce. He walks over to him and looks him dead in the eyes and says "now you tell me. Do you think for one second that he wouldn't hurt Babs, wouldn't kill her, just to get to you?"

Bruce doesn't answer as Richard waits "well?"

Bruce heaves a heavy sigh "no I don't"

"See" ocelot argues "then what's wrong with"

Bruce cuts him off mid-sentence "that may be true but tell me. What does it change if I turn into him to stop him?"

Ocelot opens his mouth to answer holding up a finger but the words won't come out. He closes his mouth and lowers his hand. He settles for glaring at Bruce through his masked eyes and just says "fuck you" before turning and taking off across the rooftops back towards his and Selina's apartment.

Bruce smirks at his childish impudence "such a brat, just like his mother" he says before taking off into the night.

As Richard returned home he was greeted with the all too familiar sound of an impatiently tapping foot behind him "well"

"hey mom, what's up?" he says turning around to see Selina with her arms crossed over her chest hoping to down play it with a sweet smile.

"What's up?" she says quirking an eyebrow "well that's what I'd like to know, where were you?" she asks.

Busted he thinks as the smile immediately drops off of his face and his shoulders slump. "Would you believe nowhere?" he asks hopefully

"Not a chance" she deadpans.

"I was just out, making new friends ya know" he says, not a total lie but not the total truth either.

"Is that so" she says skeptically

"Yeah, I met this cool girl, her names Barbra" he says hoping to make his story believable

She rolls her head forward with a look that says "are you fucking kidding me?" Waiting for the full truth. Before replying "you must think I'm royally dense"

"Mom, I'm not lying" he says desperately

She lets out a sigh and kneels down to his level putting a hand on his shoulder saying "Richard I already knew where you were, Bruce called". While looking him in the eyes.

He turns his head to the side looking away from her "that fucker" he mumbles under his breath.

Selina flicked him on the forehead, saying with a slight chuckle "watch the language kiddo"

"Well I wasn't lying" Richard defends

"Richard, no you weren't lying I know that you saw Barbra, but you weren't telling the truth either you didn't mention the joker, or that you saved her or that you saw Bruce. Richard you can trust me, I know that always been a big thing for you but you can."

He looks at her, letting his mask fall to the floor, not just the mask on his face but the mask that is his face, his carefully constructed walls crumble around him as he lets her wrap her arms around him and gently pull him into a subtle but warming embrace and he hugs her back. "I'm here for you Richard, and I always will be"

"Mom, I'm sorry, I just thought that… I don't know what I thought, but that you wouldn't approve of it" he says on the verge of tears.

Selina looks at him and gives him a soft smile, "Richard, I will always approve of what you do, no matter where you are what you're doing I will always be proud of you" she says now go to bed kitten, it's getting late" as she wipes away his tears.

"Yes mom" he says with a smile heading down the hallway to his room, he stops at the corner and says "I love you mom"

She smiles back and says "I love you kitten".


End file.
